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French Freedom of Speech

The mayor of Calais is suing Marine Le Pen of the Front National for saying "repeatedly" that citizens in Calais need a pass issued by the mayor to get to their own homes (because of the number of migrants in the town). In fact, the passes are issued by the police prefecture.

Who's en colère today?

The SNCF (toujours eux), regional train employees in the Lyons area guaranteeing unpleasant travel from the 17th-21st December
Also yet another strike by Sud-Rail, a particularly truculent SNCF union in the south of France, this time five days in January: 6,7, 21, 22 and 23. "We have no choice." Right.

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The bag from Tati

On the way to the Gare du Nord yesterday, we went by Tati, the big department store at the foot of Montmartre. Tati is famous for its low prices, and even though most of what it sells is pretty low-rent, when you do find something you like, it's at the best possible price. It's usually full of the North African and African women of the Goutte d'Or neighborhood nearby, and also attracts bargain-hunters from around the city and further. The Tunisian designer Azzedine Alaïa said in an interview once that his aunt, who lived in Paris, used to bring home presents in her Tati bag from the métropole, and that Parisian glamor seemed to seep from the bags, for him, at least. He later worked for Tati as a designer.

Tati's distinctive pink tartan is instantly recognizable in France. N reminded me of the time we had encountered one of my neighbors in the building carrying a Tati bag... hidden inside a Bon Marché one!

Elaine Sciolino in ParisOf the N.Y. Times (or as it prefers to be known, The N.Y. Times) and writer of La Seduction: How the French Play the Game of Life

Le Franco PhoneyA long-term Australian expat in a French ski resort. I can't believe it took me so long to discover this one.

The Compleat AngloI have to like a blog that is named The Compleat Anglo. An Englishman married to his Madame, in the Basque country

Flipflop France23-year-old Sasha, an Oregonian from Forks (town made famous by the Twilight vampire saga), has settled down in France's second city, Lyons. [No that isn't a mistake. I spell it the old-fashioned English way.]